Featured Article Summary #101

Flow, stylized as flOw, is an indie video game made by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark. It began as a free Flash game in 2006, created alongside Chen’s master’s thesis, and was later remade for the PlayStation 3 in 2007, with additional help from Santa Monica Studio. Other versions followed, including a PSP release in 2008 and PlayStation 4 and Vita releases in 2013. In the game, you control a small aquatic microorganism that grows and evolves by eating other microorganisms while moving through 2D worlds. Its difficulty and overall feel were influenced by research on dynamic difficulty adjustment and the idea of “flow,” meaning deep mental immersion. The original Flash version was extremely popular, and the PlayStation 3 version became a top downloaded title and won major awards, with praise for its look and sound but comments that the gameplay is very simple. In Flow, you control a small worm-like creature in an aquatic, top-down world with stacked 2D planes. The game starts immediately with no menus, and your creature automatically tries to eat nearby organisms to grow more segments; on most planes, touching two special organisms moves you up or down one level. Some planes also include aggressive creatures that can be defeated for many cells (restoring or improving your creature), and if you’re beaten you float to a higher plane rather than dying. The PlayStation 3 version of Flow has improved graphics and adds three new playable organisms with special abilities like short-speed bursts, paralysis, and lunging at weak points. It also lets players join a multiplayer game with up to four people at any time and even use different creatures, while unlocking the next creature type when each one reaches the bottom plane. The PlayStation Portable version includes all these features but with smaller planes. Flow was first developed as part of Jenova Chen’s master’s thesis, focusing on dynamic difficulty adjustment—so the game quietly changes to match a player’s past actions and choices, helping players feel in control and fully immersed. It was made with Flash, released in 2006, and later adapted for PlayStation 3 by Thatgamecompany with support from Sony, though the final PS3 version launched with less of the original design than planned. Later versions were ported by SuperVillain Studios for handheld and newer consoles, and while there was no dedicated Flow music album, Austin Wintory later released downloadable music that included variations from Flow. Flow’s Flash version became very popular soon after release, reaching 100,000 downloads in two weeks and over 3.5 million plays by February 2008. The game also earned multiple awards and nominations, including Best Downloadable Game, and its music won an award for composer Austin Wintory. Critics gave mixed reviews, often praising the game’s visuals, presentation, and soundtrack, but saying the gameplay was limited, brief, and more focused on beauty than lasting play. Reviews were generally negative about the multiplayer mode, and many described Flow as closer to an art experience or experiment than a traditional game.